William "Willie Dee" Dennis was born and raised in Houston, Texas. During adolescence he made his way as an amateur boxer and instead of becoming a professional he chose to become a rapper. During the nineties he returned to boxing occasionally: a curious episode occurred during a charity box show between rappers in 1992 in which Willie D went head to head with Melle Mel and knocks him out by accident, winning the match by TKO in the first round. Shortly after turning 18, Dennis also attempted a career as a robber, ending up in prison for six months for aggravated robbery.
In 1989, the boy attracts the attention of J Prince, founder of Rap-a-Lot Records: he intends to re-establish the Geto Boys from scratch and convinces Willie Dee to join the group, despite the young man aiming to break through as a solo artist, soon joined by Scarface. A sensational lineup is born, completed by Bushwick Bill. The group's new album "Grip It! On That Other Level" is one of the best rap albums of the entire season and is now considered a classic by fans. At the end of the same year, Willie D's solo debut album is also released.
The cover seems like the stereotype of your generic gangster rap album: lilac background, galactic choice, author's name in blue with a font that is illegal in 140 states, album title just below in red with dancing letters and a cinematic font stolen from a Van Damme action movie ("Kickboxer", 1989), there is the hype for the presence of the Ghetto Boys, then the author's figure on the right, still clearly taken from the same Van Damme movie, on the left three images, from above a guy dressed as a member of the Ku Klux Klan, a police officer and a girl in a bikini, below again the label's logo, then a bar at the rapper's feet declares that the album contains explicit lyrics.
Production is credited to DJ Ready Red, Johnny C, Lil' J and Doug King. Ghetto Boys and Choice are the guests on the tape. Here Willie Dee drops extravagant, exaggerated and funny gangsta lyrics over a dirty funky production provided by the Ghetto Boys. In the first part it goes quite strong and devastates everything on a minimal rhythm, delivering hardcore and flowing with a clear and heavy flow, building pretty solid cuts ("Do It Like a G.O.", "F... the KKK", "Willie Dee"), however in the second part of the LP the quality of the product diminishes with tracks for women who breathe that sample of Syl Johnson, slow rhythms and a less gritty delivery than at the beginning.
The effort was released by Rap-a-Lot on cassette in 1989, and came out on CD in 1990 with a slightly different cover than the original, the artist's name dominates the title, the author takes up more space on the right, as does the girl on the left. The following year, when the Geto Boys signed with Priority, the album was reissued with the new label and was reissued again in 1995, distributed by Virgin and managing to make its way into the rap album charts.
Rating: 6.5/10.
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